Apologise
by jonesy100000000
Summary: Draco and Hermione find out what the phrase 'it's too late' really means. Based on the song 'Apologise' by OneRepublic but it is not a songfic. Disregards the 6th and 7th books but is set around the war and final battle. Contains character death. Dramione


**A/N: It's been a while but last night I was attacked by the plot bunnies and just had to write it. It's a different fanfic to which I normally write but I think it's turned out alright. This is based on the song Apologise by OneRepublic but it is NOT a songfic. Please review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the song Apologise or the associated lyrics. I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters within the franchise. If I did, Tom Felton would be all mine and in the movies far more!**

* * *

Apologise

'Hermione! Hermione, wait up! Let me explain!'

Hermione ignored the shouts behind her and continued running. She didn't know where she was running to; she just knew she had to get away. Tears impaired her vision, temporarily blinding her and coupled with the shouting, forced Hermione to keep on running until she could no longer hear her pursuer's cries. Suddenly, as she rounded a corner, Hermione slammed straight into a body and let out a small surprised yelp.

'Oh sorry,' Hermione apologised meekly without looking up, and trying to side step the person.

'Watch where you're gong Granger,' replied Draco. Seeing that Hermione was not herself, he reached out and touched her arm to stop her progress.

'Malfoy?' she asked curiously.

'What?'

'Why are you, a pureblood, touching me, a lowly mudblood not even fit enough to have been born?' Draco sighed as Hermione removed his arm and more attempted to side step him. He matched her move causing her to bump into him again.

'Malfoy, please let me go. Pick on me another day,' Hermione said, a hint of desperation in her voice.

'What's wrong Granger?' questioned Draco.

'Nothing.'

'People don't cry over nothing Granger, especially you,' Draco replied and began to reach out to wipe a tear away, before catching himself and putting his hand down. 'I'm not letting you leave until you tell me what is wrong.'

'Why? So you can laugh at me about it later? So you can tell all your slytherin cronies who can also laugh at me?' Hermione shot back irritably.

'Maybe I'm just concerned for you.' Hermione let out a small 'harrumph' but looked up to find Draco still standing there, a genuine concerned look on his face. She could detect no deception in his features, although he was still a slytherin who was extremely skilled in the art of lying.

Admitting defeat, she replied, 'Fine but can we get away from the corridor.'

Draco held Hermione's arm, in case she tried to give him the slip, and gently guided her into a nearby empty classroom. She seemed shocked by his kind actions but was too busy keeping her tears in check to dwell on any ulterior motive, as she didn't want to break down again in front of him. Hermione knew that people would think that she was mad if she ever recounted this episode; willingly going into an empty classroom with Draco Malfoy, a self-professed mudblood hater. However, Hermione knew that Draco was as stubborn as she was; she knew he wouldn't leave until she had told him what was wrong and she had been no mood to fight with him.

Just as she had readied herself, she heard shouting, 'Hermione! Hermione, where are you?' Hermione's blood ran cold and she froze momentarily as she heard other classroom doors along the corridor being opened and slammed. She stood and pushed a slightly put-out looking Draco into a corner of the room and readied herself. She had nowhere to run; she was trapped like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

The door opened abruptly to reveal a frantic looking Ron Weasley.

'Hermione, there you are. Look, it was an accident. I never meant for that to happen.'

Hermione's eyes narrowed with anger. 'How is you lying on top of Lavender, clad only in underwear, and groping her an accident? Do you think I'm an idiot? How dare you insult my intelligence,' she said in a dangerously low voice causing Draco to gulp quietly from his hiding place.

'Why won't you believe me? I'm your boyfriend.' Draco stifled a snicker at the thought of Ron and Hermione being an item and wondered when he'd missed this piece of valuable taunting information.

'Was, Ron. Was,' corrected Hermione softly, 'We're over.'

'But how? Don't I get another chance?' Ron was practically begging, something that Draco was finding rather pathetic as he observed the scene playing out a few feet away.

'Ron, you've liked me for years but you were too scared to be a man and ask me out so you dated others. Fine: that I don't mind. What I don't understand is why when we were finally going out, do you then decide to cheat on me with your ex-girlfriend, for the third time.'

'What if I say I'm sorry?'

'No. It's too late to apologise. Please leave, you're too late.' Hermione sat in one of the chairs and put her head in her hands, completely defeated. As Ron began to make his way over to her, Draco decided to make his presence known and stepped in the gap between Ron and Hermione.

'Are you deaf Weaselbee? You were told to leave,' Draco drawled, the air of superiority surrounding him once more.

'Malfoy? What are you doing here with my girlfriend?'

'Ex, Weaselbee, ex-girlfriend. You've just been dumped. She said it's too late to apologise,' he smirked, infuriating the red-headed boy further.

'Draco,' Hermione groaned.

Ron's face reddened with anger. He knew he would not be able to get into a fight with Malfoy and win so he chose the next best option.

'You're nothing but a whore, Hermione,' he rounded on her, 'A deatheater's whore.' Ron spun round on his heels before Malfoy's fist could connect with his head, and stormed out the classroom, slamming the door and making the room shake and its two occupants jump slightly.

'Hermione?' questioned Draco cautiously as he turned around to face her. He reached out a hand to place a comforting arm on her shaking shoulder.

'Why are you here Malfoy?' Draco frowned slightly at her refusal to use his given name.

'Because I want to make sure that you are going to be alright.'

'But why? I'm a mudblood remember, the very thing that you look down on,' Hermione persisted.

'Hermione, don't be so stupid, that's bullshit. We both know that all that pureblood/mudblood stuff is load of rubbish. You deserve your magic just as much as the next witch or wizard. I mean, you're the brightest witch of our age despite being a muggle for eleven years of your life.' Hermione smiled to herself at this. That small complement from Draco meant so much to her; over the years he had undermined her confidence by telling her she was unworthy. She would never have outwardly showed her lack of confidence as she had never wanted to let him win whatever war he was playing. It wasn't an apology but that didn't lessen the impact of the words. His next words, however, brought her back to the present.

'I love you, Hermione.'

The bushy-haired witch stood suddenly, 'What?'

Draco looked slightly taken aback by her affronted tone, but regained his composure quickly. 'I love you, with a fire red,' he repeated before leaning down to kiss her softly. Silver eyes reflected surprise when he found her kissing him back. When they broke apart, Hermione looked up at the blond haired wizard before her. Draco didn't quite no what to make of her expression.

'Draco, we can't. We're fighting on opposite sides of a war. You can't exactly leave your side to join ours, you'd be killed and I wouldn't be allowed to join your side seeing as I am the epitome of what you are fighting against. It has to end now before it starts and we get carried away.' Internally, Hermione was mess. Draco's kiss had ignited a fire within her, something she had never felt with anyone before even Ron, but she also knew it would be impossible to keep their relationship hidden; he was still the boy who had taunted her and her best friends for years.

Draco sighed, sensing that the know-it-all was right. 'Fine, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry.' Draco saw the confused look that appeared on Hermione's face and continued, 'I'm sorry. Sorry for every time I was mean to you, every time I called you a mudblood, every time I undermined you. I truly am sorry.'

Hermione took a deep breath and cupped Draco's cheek, 'It's too late to apologise.' Draco tried to kiss her again but she moved slightly. 'It's too late… I said… it's too late to apologise.'

With that, Hermione ran once more, allowing the emotions to rush over her, crashing into her like a wave. Fresh tears fell once she had left the classroom and Draco behind.

Draco continued to stand in the same spot that Hermione had left him in for what felt like hours, in reality it was barely three minutes, the thoughts and feelings of what had just occurred in the classroom going round his head in a tangled web. Hermione had been the angel that had saved him from being ignorant his whole life, she had been the one to show him that birth was irrelevant and that a mudblood was as good as, or in the case of Hermione; better, than a pureblood. Draco had not been lying when he had said he loved her; if he was being truthful to himself, and he rarely was, it was probably love at first sight but his prejudices put in place by his father had blinded him for so many years. When he had finally removed the blinkers she had turned around and told him he was too late.

For the short while before the war started, Hermione and Draco avoided each other as much as possible, which was hard since they shared several classes. Hermione had realised that she needed Draco, like a heart needs a beat, but she forced her head to rule her heart and tried to forget her newfound feelings for her once arch-enemy. Draco was ignoring Hermione, he no longer taunted her and could rarely be found taunting Harry or Ron and if he did, he made sure Hermione was elsewhere. He tried to tell himself that he had loved her, the love he had felt for her was past tense and was slowly turning blue, but the love that he felt for her was not the sort of love that would diminish that quickly.

* * *

Once the war begun, they had no longer go to the extremes to avoid each other, as they were, as predicted by Hermione, fighting on opposing sides. There had been many casualties in the war on both sides but in the end the order had won; Harry had defeated Voldermort and every witch and wizard could be happy again, save for one. Draco had died during the final battle by a fellow death eater when he had stepped in the way of a killing curse meant for Hermione. Given a chance, Draco would have done it again; he loved her that much, absence had made his heart grow fonder. He would willingly take a fall and a shot for her, time and time again but he had had his life. Hermione had killed the death eater but it was too late for Draco, his life was over. 'I'm sorry,' she wept, 'So sorry.' But her apology had been too late, Hermione had been too late.

* * *

A gentle breeze blew through the trees that interspersed the gravestones, making their leaves flutter softly in the wind. The air was heavy and the atmosphere tense.

'Come on Hermione. It's time to go home,' Harry said, wrapping an arm around his best friend. 'Ron was a good mate, a true hero. He sacrificed himself so that I was able to I could kill Voldermort.'

'I know, but I don't think I'll ever be able to truly forgive him for hurting me like that. You go. I'll be with you shortly. I just need a few moments alone. To be with a true hero,' Hermione replied, her mind already beginning to wander.

Harry gave her a warm hug and kissed her cheek, telling her that he would see her back at the Burrow in ten to fifteen minutes, and then disapparated from the graveyard.

Now all alone, Hermione made her way to where the death eater graves were. After a few moments of searching she found the grave she had been looking for.

_Draco Lucius Abraxas Malfoy_

_5__th__ June 1980 12__th__ March 1998_

_It's too late_

Hermione read the last line as the tears began to fall. She pondered why those three words were there, apparently Draco had requested it although no-one seemed to know as to why. Hermione could guess though; Draco knew Hermione well. He knew that she would want to apologise to him, tell him she loved him. It was a harsh reminder to her that she was too late. Too late for a lot of things: to save his life, to accept his offer of love, to accept his apology, and more importantly her apology to him. Even when it had not been, Hermione had still told Draco that his apology was too late, but now he would never, could never hear hers. Hermione was too late.

Harry returned to the cemetery half an hour later, frantic with worry. When Hermione had not turned up at the Burrow he had ignored Ginny's and Mrs Weasley's protests and apparated straight back to the graveyard. He was about to give up hope, and head back when he saw her in the death eater's section. He ran up to her, only to find her hanging from a tree by a rope around her neck, about ten feet off the ground, above Draco's grave. He should never have left the cemetery, left her alone. Harry read the headstone and looked up at Hermione's lifeless body.

'_It's too late'_


End file.
